Stent having less invasive ends

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9370437-B2
Application number	US-33802008-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 18, 2008
Priority date	Dec 26, 2007
Publication date	Jun 21, 2016
Grant date	Jun 21, 2016

Abstract

The present examples provide a stent for use in a medical procedure that comprises at least one apex having first and second generally straight portions and a curved portion disposed between the first and second straight portions. The curved portion may comprise at least one region having a cross-sectional area that is less than a cross-sectional area of the first and second straight portions, which may facilitate compression of the stent and insertion of the stent into smaller vessels. The stent may be used alone, or in conjunction with a stent-graft, and may comprise one or more barbs configured to engage an inner wall of a vessel or duct.

First claim

We claim:

1. A stent for use in a medical procedure, the stent comprising:
at least one apex comprising a strut having first and second generally straight portions and a curved portion disposed between the first and second generally straight portions,
where the curved portion comprises at least one region having a cross-sectional area that is less than a respective cross-sectional area of each of the first and second generally straight portions,
where the cross-sectional area of the curved portion is measured as being perpendicular to the strut at the at least one region of the curved portion,
where the respective cross-sectional area of each of the first and second generally straight portions is measured as being perpendicular to the strut at the respective one of the first and second generally straight portions, and
where the first and second generally straight portions each have a respective portion aligned with a longitudinal axis of the stent in an expanded state.

2. The stent of claim 1 further comprising a substantially uniform taper between the first generally straight portion and a midpoint of the curved portion, and a substantially uniform taper between the second generally straight portion and the midpoint, such that the midpoint comprises the smallest cross-sectional area of any point along the curved portion.

3. The stent of claim 1 further comprising a variable taper formed along at least a portion of the curved portion, the variable taper forming one or more regions along the curved portion having a reduced cross-sectional area relative to the first and second generally straight portions.

4. The stent of claim 1 where the curved portion comprises at least one arcuate segment having a cross-sectional area that is less than the respective cross-sectional area of each of the first and second generally straight portions, where the arcuate segment comprises a uniform cross-sectional area along at least a portion of its length.

5. The stent of claim 1 where the stent is coupled to at least a portion of a graft, where at least one distal apex of the stent is coupled to the graft using one or more sutures.

6. The stent of claim 1 further including at least one barb formed integrally with the stent, where the barb is formed along a transition region comprising a first straight portion of a first apex and a second straight portion of an adjacent apex.

7. The stent of claim 1 where the stent comprises multiple proximal apices and multiple distal apices,
where each proximal apex is integrally formed with a next adjacent proximal apex, and where each distal apex is integrally formed with a next adjacent distal apex,
where each of the proximal apices are circumferentially offset from the distal apices, and
where the stent comprises at least one strut segment disposed between a proximal apex and a distal apex, where the strut segment is angled with respect to the longitudinal axis of the stent in an expanded state.

8. The stent of claim 1 where the stent comprises a super-elastic material, and where strains imposed upon the curved portion do not induce substantial permanent strains of the selected material.

9. A stent for use in a medical procedure, the stent comprising:
at least one apex comprising first and second generally straight portions and a curved portion disposed between the first and second generally straight portions,
where the at least one apex of the stent is in a generally arcuate expanded shape, and
where the at least one apex of the stent is configured to enter a compressed state in which at least a portion of the curved portion overlaps with itself to reduce an overall lateral width of the curved portion in the compressed state relative to the generally arcuate expanded shape.

10. The stent of claim 9 where the curved portion comprises at least one region having a cross-sectional area that is less than a respective cross-sectional area of each of the first and second generally straight portions.

11. The stent of claim 10 further comprising a substantially uniform taper between the first generally straight portion and a midpoint of the curved portion, and a substantially uniform taper between the second generally straight portion and the midpoint, such that the midpoint comprises the smallest cross-sectional area of any point along the curved portion.

12. The stent of claim 9 where the stent comprises a super-elastic material, and where strains imposed upon the curved portion due to stent compression do not induce permanent strains of the selected material when the stent is in the compressed state.

13. The stent of claim 9 where the stent is coupled to at least a portion of a graft, where at least one distal apex of the stent is coupled to the graft using one or more sutures.

14. The stent of claim 9 where the stent comprises multiple proximal apices and multiple distal apices,
where each proximal apex is integrally formed with a next adjacent proximal apex, and where each distal apex is integrally formed with a next adjacent distal apex,
where each of the proximal apices are circumferentially offset from the distal apices, and
where the stent comprises at least one strut segment disposed between a proximal apex and a distal apex, where the strut segment is angled with respect to a longitudinal axis of the stent in an expanded state.

15. A stent having proximal and distal ends, the stent comprising:
a series of proximal apices disposed at the proximal end of the stent, where each proximal apex comprises a first strut having a first generally straight portion, a second generally straight portion, and a curved portion disposed between the first and second generally straight portions, where the curved portions of the proximal apices each comprise at least one region having a cross-sectional area that is less than a respective cross-sectional area of each of the respective first and second generally straight portions;
a series of distal apices disposed at the distal end of the stent, where each distal apex comprises a second strut having a first generally straight portion, a second generally straight portion, and a curved portion disposed between the first and second generally straight portions, where the curved portions of the distal apices each comprise at least one region having a cross-sectional area that is less than a respective cross-sectional area of each of the respective first and second generally straight portions; and
at least one strut segment disposed between a proximal apex and a distal apex,
where each of the proximal apices are circumferentially offset from the distal apices in an expanded state,
where the cross-sectional area of the curved portion of each of the proximal apices is measured as being perpendicular to the first strut at the at least one region of the curved portion,
where the cross-sectional area of each of the first and second generally straight portions of each of the proximal apices is measured as being perpendicular to the respective first strut at the respective one of the first and second generally straight portions, and
where the first and second generally straight portions of each of the proximal apices each have a respective portion aligned with a longitudinal axis of the stent in an expanded state.

16. The stent of claim 15 where the stent is coupled to at least a portion of a graft, where at least one distal apex of the stent is coupled to the graft using one or more sutures.

17. The stent of claim 15 where each proximal apex is integrally formed with a next adjacent proximal apex, and where

Assignees

• Chuter Timothy A M
• Dierking William K
• Leewood Alan R
• Roeder Blayne A
• Cook Medical Technologies Llc

Inventors

• Chuter Timothy A M
• Dierking William K
• Leewood Alan R
• Roeder Blayne A

Classifications

• A61F2220/0016

  with sharp anchoring protrusions, e.g. barbs, pins, spikes · CPC title

• A61F2002/8483

  Barbs · CPC title

• A61F2220/0075

  sutured, ligatured or stitched, retained or tied with a rope, string, thread, wire or cable · CPC title

• A61F2250/0036

  differing in thickness · CPC title

• A61F2002/075

  the stent being loosely attached to the graft material, e.g. by stitching · CPC title